The Signet Society Alumni Buzz

Vol. 2, No. 1

www.signetsociety.org 

click to view in PDF format

The Signet Society Alumni Buzz newsletter aims to connect the over 2,000 Signet Society Alumni to each other, and back to the Signet. 

Here’s to The Society!

-The Signet Society Alumni (signet@post.harvard.edu)

 

 

 

  

Upcoming Events

Would you like to organize a Signet event in your city? Email signet@post.harvard.edu for help getting started.

Click here to view other upcoming and recent events.

April 23-25, 2010. Annual Dinner Weekend, celebrating the Signet Society’s 140th year.  Tickets now available!

  • Friday Cocktails, Honoring Baratunde Thurston '99, Web Editor at The Onion and TV Host of Popular Science's Future Of
  • Saturday Dinner, Featuring Speaker Tad Friend ‘84, Author and staff writer at The New Yorker; Medallist: Jill Abramson '76, Managing Editor, New York Times; Toastmaster: Susan Stevenson Borowitz ‘81, Television writer, humorist, and co-creator of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; and Poet: Donald Platt, Author of Fresh Peaches, Fireworks and Guns
  • Sunday Brunch, Featuring southern cuisine prepared by Matt Lee ’92, author of the award-winning Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern cookbook 

 

Recent News and Photos

See our online Member Library for recently published books, music and films by Signet Society members, alumni, and associates.
And visit our Photo Library for visual complements to some of the events featured below.

  • Autumn Dinner with Sherry Pairings.  Featuring Fareed Zakaria PhD ‘93, writer and political analyst for CNN and Newsweek; Toastmaster Thomas Kelly, Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music and President of the Signet Associates; and Paul Grieco, sommelier and James Beard award winner.  
  • Michael Friedman ‘97 performs in tribute concert at Lincoln Center and gets a great review in the New York Times.
  • Two cocktail events in London reunite alums at the homes of Tom Moore ’98, and Victoria De Menil ’00.
  • Signet alumni band “The Main Drag” releases third indie-pop album, “You Are Underwater,” featuring John Drake '06, Matt Boch ’06-’07, and Jon Carter ’06-’07.
  • Leslie Jamison ’04 publishes The Gin Closet.
  • HBO premieres “Youth Knows No Pain,” a documentary about the anti-aging world, by Mitch McCabe ’94.
  • Jed Cohen ’99 launches RocketHub.com, whose mission is to help creative people everywhere raise the money they need to complete creative projects and endeavors.
  • Walter Isaacson ‘74 hosts reception at Signet House for newly published book, American Sketches: Great Leaders, Creative Thinkers and Heroes of a Hurricane.
  • Portrait of Maurice Pechet AM ‘43, PhD ‘44, MD ‘48 is unveiled at Signet House.

 

Wanted: Signet Society Artist in Residence

Application deadline April 15, 2010.  The Artist in Residence plays a vital role in the cultural, artistic and social life of The Signet Society. Residing at the second floor apartment at the Signet House, 46 Dunster Street, this person will interact with Signet Society alumni, undergraduates, graduate members, faculty, and the Associates’ Board to build community and enthusiasm for the Society while also pursuing his/her own independent artistic and intellectual projects. This position lends itself to ample creative time and proximity to libraries and theaters and is ideal for young writers and artists. Click here for more information. 
 

Featured Drones

Susan Stevenson Borowitz, AB ‘81

I grew up in an artsy-craftsy family.  My parents, both artists, filled our home with art—pictures, art supplies and art books dedicated to everything from Old Masters to Modern nude photography (the latter of which delighted my brothers’ neighborhood friends while my parents naively believed that these small lads were just suddenly interested in art).  I started making art projects as far back as I can remember, but as I grew I used it more to illustrate narratives than anything else, stapling together “books” that told stories  exclusively through pictures that I had drawn—the pre-school version of the graphic novel, if you will… Click to read more 

 

Baratunde Thurston, AB ‘99

Warning: this is a post all about me.

I graduated to the sound of a theme song written specifically for my class by the dangerously sexy artist known as Prince. Philosophy degree in tow, a penchant for writing, performing and fixing computers naturally led me to the fulfilling career path which begins at the gates of fulfillment known as strategy consulting.

There was a logic to this move: I had no money and lots of loans, and here I found people willing to pay me to meddle in the business affairs of others. Plus, I was at least concentrating on industries about which I cared -- communications, media, Internet things -- rather than diapers or toothpaste or village-eviscerating munitions… Click to read more


Signet Email List-Serv

Zachary Sniderman ’09 is hosting the new Google Groups list-serv, which acts as a digital lunch table. Members of the Society can share information, ideas, and support with one another. Our community depends on your participation and willingness to update us on creative enterprises. Click here to sign up for the List-Serv, as well as our Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter sites. 

Member e-Library

Even if you’ve lost your rose, we still welcome your book, music or film publication’s addition to our online Member Library, with purchase links to Amazon.com. Please email signet@post.harvard.edu to request that your publication be added.

From the Archives

“A Short History of the Signet Society,” by Nathan C. Shiverick. From The Signet:  A Centennial Catalogue, 1870-1970.  Click here to read the article.

Update Contact Information

The Signet gets all contact info from the Harvard Alumni Association database. To change your contact information or opt in/out of communications, please visit http://post.harvard.edu and click on "Update Your Profile," or contact University Alumni Records at aro@harvard.edu.

 

To The Society

Donate to the Annual Appeal.

The everyday health of the Signet Society depends on our support--all of us who are or have been members (including Signet alumni) or associates.  If you loved the Signet and the friends you made there, and have not yet made your gift this year, please join in keeping our Society an important part of the lives of those undergraduates who enjoy it now.  Send your check today or click here to give online.  And be generous. Your gift is tax deductible.

Wear the Signet (Accessories). 

Support the Signet by investing in a wearable art / conversation starter.  Own an engraved Signet medal cast from an 1895 edition, a necktie, bowtie/cummerbund set, or a Signet ring. Click here for photos and more information.

Get Involved.

Become a Signet class captain, help organize a regional alumni event, contribute to the newsletter, redesign the newsletter, join a sub-committee of The Signet Society Alumni… we need your assistance.   For more information on alumni activities, email signet@post.harvard.edu.